After reading much of this thread, I have one great big consumer’s question for all the manufacturer’s reps out there:
HA manufacturer, Please tell me again:
Exactly why is it that the consumer feels he/she is getting “ripped-off” when he/she is forced by his/her disability to purchase a “medical device” at a price of $6000 and said “medical device” has a life expectancy of 2-4 years. (At best, that’s $4.11/day of life expectancy for the hearing aid. Heck, even a fancy new automobile only has a cost/day of around $8.00 and you can’t tell me that a HA costs half as much to build.)
Better still, said hearing device will be deemed as “obsolete technology” by you, the manufacturer, in less than 18 mo. so the customer will be “more than ready to do it all again in short order” rather than pay for a repair to an “obsolete item”.
As for the demanding environment in which a hearing aid must function; I don’t suppose you call the environment in which an automobile has to function a demanding one? Exposure to road salt, temps as high as 120F and as low as -50F, exposure to road vibrations that put a jack hammer to shame, routinely getting doused by full blown rainstorms that would float an ark, and even a good dousing with a mud-bath occasionally. " Oh, but you say a hearing aid has delicate electronics." To this I say B.S. Exactly how many delicate electronic components do you think the modern car has in it?
Let’s see, why is it that you feel threatened by the onslaught of these things called PSAP’s all of a sudden? Why are you so afraid of such changes as Hi-Health Innovations? If your profit margins are so thin, and your target market is so small and delicate, why then is it that every one of you manufacturers are scrambling to open retail outlets which put the independent retailers out of business? Is your little world about to collapse upon itself? I think so. Especially, if you don’t listen to the music! A big change is on its way!